THAT INGESTED ethyl alcohol is possessed of an emetic action is well recognized by scientist and layman alike. Indeed, on a purely numerical basis, emesis from alcohol in man must be much more frequent than that from any other agent. Yet search of the literature is not successful in bringing to light any experimental work on the subject either in man or in lower animals. When accorded casual mention, it is generally assumed that the action is a local one on the gastrointestinal tract and that the type of beverage is of considerable importance.

It was thus of great interest to us to find that a considerable number of persons vomited after intravenous injection of doses of alcohol well within the range of ordinary social intake. For this reason, in the course of numerous experiments in which alcohol was administered to human subjects by both oral and intravenous routes we